Mormon Marriage Is Also Terrestrial: An Study on Gender in Phyllis Barber's Raw Edges: A Memoir
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.26754/ojs_misc/mj.20138826Keywords:
Phyllis Barber, Mormon literature, Feminism, Gender roles, AutobiographyAbstract
Phyllis Barber was raised as a member of the Mormon Church. In her fiction and in her autobiographies this is an important element opening suitable realms to analyze her literature. Here I aim at analyzing her contribution to Mormon feminist tradition. In her latest autobiography, Raw Edges: A Memoir, Barber approaches marriage as an institution, helping to illustrate the relevance that certain gender roles still have within Mormon culture. Through the confession of her own failure, Barber echoes former references to penetrate into topics dealing with gender issues within Mormon culture.
Downloads
References
Arrington, Leonard. 1979. “Persons for All Seasons: Women in Mormon History”. BYU Studies 20 (1): 39-59. <https://byustudies.byu.edu/PDFLibrary/20.1ArringtonPersonsb32b4b8d-5ed5-44bf-8d52-8a5818dde67d.pdf>. Accessed 3 October, 2010.
Austin, Michael. 2006. A Voice in the Wilderness: Conversations with Terry Tempest Williams. Logan: Utah State U.P.
Barber, Phyllis. 1990. The School of Love. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press.
—. 1991. And the Desert Shall Blossom. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press.
—. 1999. Parting the Veil: Stories from a Mormon Imagination. Salt Lake City: Signature Books.
—. 2003. “Body Blue: Excerpts from a Novoir”. Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 36 (2): 65-80. <https://www.dialoguejournal.com/wp-content/uploads/sbi/articles/Dialogue_V36N02_75.pdf>. Accessed 2 October, 2010.
—. 2009. Raw Edges: A Memoir. Reno: University of Nevada Press.
—. 2012. “The Pros and Cons of Writing Confessional Memoir in the Mormon Milieu”. Beyond the Myth: New Perspectives on Western Texts. In Río, David, Amaia Ibarraran, and Martin Simonson (eds.). Vitoria-Gasteiz: Portal Education: 141-157.
Baumgart, Aaltje. 2003. “Mormon and Feminist?: Feminist Reactions to LDS Scripture, Doctrine and Practices”. American@ 1 (2): http://www.uhu.es/hum676/revista/baugmart.pdf>. Accessed 3 October, 2010.
Breau, Elizabeth. 2010. “Raw Edges: A Memoir”. ForeWord Reviews (March-April): <https://www.forewordreviews.com/reviews/raw-edges/>. Accessed 3 October, 2010.
Bush, Laura L. 2004. “From Bunkerville to Babylon: Juanita Brooks and Phyllis Barber Tell the Story of Twentieth-Century Mormon Women’s Sexual Training”. Sunstone Magazine (December): 28-37. <https://www.sunstonemagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/sbi/articles/135-28-37.pdf>. Accessed 3 October, 2010.
Bushman, Claudia L. 2008. “Should Mormon Women Speak Out?: Thoughts on Our Place in the World”. Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 41 (1): 170-184. <https://www.dialoguejournal.com/wp-content/uploads/sbi/articles/Dialogue_V41N01_181.pdf>. Accessed 3 October, 2010.
Clark, Dennis M. 1986. “Mormon Poetry Now!: Second in a Series”. Sunstone Magazine (March): 22-29. <https://www.sunstonemagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/sbi/articles/054-22-29.pdf>. Accessed 3 October, 2010.
Gusdorf, Georges. 1980. “Conditions and Limits of Autobiography”. In Olney, James (ed.). Autobiography: Essays Theoretical and Critical. Princeton: Princeton U.P.: 28-48.
Hanks, Maxime. 1992. Women and Authority: Re-emerging Mormon Feminism. Salt Lake City: Signature Books.
Holladay, Valerie. 1999. “Wanderings and Wonderings: Contemporary Autobiographical Theory and the Personal Essay”. Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 32 (3): 83-91. <https://www.dialoguejournal.com/wp-content/uploads/sbi/articles/Dialogue_V32N03_91.pdf>. Accessed 3 October, 2010.
Hunter, Howard W. 1994. “Being a Righteous Husband and Father”. Ensign 24 (November): 49-52. <http://www.lds.org/ensign/1994/11/being-a-righteous-husband-andfather?lang=eng>. Accessed 3 October, 2010.
Jorgensen, Bruce W. 2004. “Toward a ‘Marriage Group’ of Contemporary Mormon Short Stories”. Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 37 (4): 35-65. <https://www.dialoguejournal.com/wp-content/uploads/sbi/articles/Dialogue_V37N04_53.pdf>. Accessed 3 October, 2010.
Lambert, Glen. 2004. “Ten Issues in Mormon Marriage”. Sunstone Magazine (October): 22-26. <https://www.sunstonemagazine.com/wpcontent/uploads/sbi/articles/134-22-26.pdf>. Accessed 3 October, 2010.
Masters, Marie. 2008. “Interview. Phyllis Barber… on the Raw Edges of Publishing a New Memoir”. Iddie: A Literary Journal of Creative Thinkers. <http://www.iddie.net/>. Accessed 3 October, 2010.
Miles, Carrie A. 2007. “LDS Family Ideals versus the Equality of Women: Navigating the Change Since 1957”. In Jacobson, Cardell K., John P. Hoffman, and Tim B. Heaton (eds.). Revisiting Thomas F. O’Dea’s The Mormons: Persistent Themes and Contemporary Perspectives. Salt Lake City: University of U.P.: 1-45. <http://carriemiles.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/carrie-miles-mssa-submission2.pdf>. Accessed 3 October, 2010.
Newell, Linda King. 1992. “The Historical Relationship of Mormon Women and Priesthood”. In Hanks, Maxine (ed.). Women and Authority: Re-emerging Mormon Feminism. Salt Lake City: Signature Books: 23-48.
O’dea, Thomas F. 1957. The Mormons. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
Olney, James. 1980. “Autobiography and the Cultural Movement: A Thematic, Historical and Bibliographical Introduction”. In Oley, James (ed.). Autobiography: Essays Theoretical and Critical. Princeton: Princeton U.P.: 3-27.
Packer, Boyd K. 1994. “The Father and the Family”. Ensign (May 24): 19-22. <http://www.lds.org/ensign/1994/05/the-father-and-thefamily?lang=eng>. Accessed 3 October, 2010.
Schow, Wayne. 2004. “Sexual Morality Revisited”. Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 37 (3): 114-136. <https://www.dialoguejournal.com/wp-content/uploads/sbi/articles/Dialogue_V37N03_124.pdf>. Accessed 3 October, 2010.
Sillitoe, Linda. 1980. “New Voices, New Songs: Contemporary Poems by Mormon Women”. Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 13 (4): 47-62. <https://www.dialoguejournal.com/wp-content/uploads/sbi/articles/Dialogue_V13N04_49.pdf>. Accessed 3 October, 2010.
—. 1987. Sideways to the Sun. Salt Lake City: Signature Books. Stegner, Wallace and Richard Etulain. 1996. Stegner: Conversations on History and Literature. Reno: University of Nevada Press.
Toscano, Margaret Merrill. 2007. “Are Boys More Important Than Girls?: The Continuing Conflict of Gender Difference and Equality in
Mormonism”. Sunstone Magazine (June): 19-29. <https://www.sunstonemagazine.com/wpcontent/uploads/sbi/articles/146-19-29.pdf>. Accessed 3 October, 2010.
Wilcox, Linda P. 1992. “The Mormon Concept of a Mother in Heaven”. In Hanks, Maxine (ed.). Women and Authority: Re-emerging Mormon Feminism. Salt Lake City: Signature Books: 3-22.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.